BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Matt Herren dismisses his popularity among predictions to win the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville this week. He was second only to fellow Alabama pro Scott Canterbury in an informal survey of Classic competitors at Tuesday’s angler registration meeting.
“That’s just local knowledge stuff,” said the 57-year-old Ashville, Ala., resident. “And Guntersville is not my home lake. It never was. I was a Coosa River rat.”
However, Herren does have a level of confidence that he’s never had in his previous seven Classics. Most importantly, when the 50th annual Academy + Sports Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk begins Friday, Herren considers himself among the favorites.
“If you had brought me here five years ago, under these same conditions, I could not have won the Classic,” Herren said. “I wasn’t prepared for this. But where I’m at right now, and with how my fishing has changed, I’ve got a chance. I’ve made a lot of effort the last two or three years, working on this style of fishing.”
So what is “this style of fishing” at Lake Guntersville this week?
“Offshore grass,” Herren said. “It’s about using your electronics. It’s about understanding little subtleties of grass lines.”
And most of all, this tournament is going to be about adjusting to the daily changes dictated by early March weather and fluctuating water conditions.
“I’ll let you know what’s going to happen when I get out there and see the water surface temperature (today) and Friday morning,” Herren said. “We’re right there on the window of a change. Will it happen this week? I don’t know. If it’s right, and the change hits, I could obliterate the field. They don’t have the knowledge I have about how quickly (the bass) move. But I don’t think the change is going to happen.”
He’s what Herren is looking for: 54-degree water surface temperatures at daylight Friday, the first day of the tournament.
“If I see that, they’re going to move,” Herren said.
And Matt Herren is confident he knows where the bass are going to go if that window of change opens.
